8 | February 2014 • www.specialty-coffee.com
SHOP SECRETS
soon-to-be ourishing co ee chain.
"When we started that store, it was never with the idea that
we would start one location and see how it went; it was all a
part of a bigger plan to roll out more locations," Herman says.
at grand plan was critical in the following stores.
"Six months a er opened our rst store, we opened our
second store. And both of those two stores were in a small
town of 6,000 people, so it was relatively small. Our third
store ended up being in that same town," says Herman, who
learned how to run multiple stores before spreading out to the
surrounding area.
"It's been a very well thought out plan, carefully executed
plan to put in store a er store a er store in a sequential manner
that made sense in this tight geographic community that we're
in," Herman says.
e careful plan that drove their expansions le out no
details. To keep close control over their co ee, they simply had
to source and roast their own beans.
"We source from all over the world," said Herman. "We look
for relationships with speci c farms that are along the lines of how
want things produced as opposed to a large cooperative where we
really don't know the practices of those speci c farmers."
Roasting everything for the chain is a major operation, but
meant jobs for the area and an assurance of quality beans.
" at allows us to control all the aspects of what we do there
as well," Herman says. "It's a full-time job for sure. Everything
we do is a major production just because of the sheer volume
of 14 stores and the fact that we don't outsource and try to take
care of everything in house."
e legwork is well worth it, especially in the Northwest
where people know their co ee. Herman said the extreme
measures they take to nd, import and roast the co ee helps
them stand out from the other shops.
"Is there a di erence? Yes," Herman says. "I think we can go
to origin and nd a certain farmer that's doing things a certain
way that has great practices, we think it translates to a better
tasting product."
T W C .
Biscotti
Gourmet
giorgiocookieco.com
877.668.2998
06-9 shop secrets SCR0214.indd 8 2/6/2014 12:05:08 PM